The Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC) is now the second professional body in the UK recognised by the Institute of Customer Service (The Institute) with ‘ServiceMark’ accreditation. ServiceMark recognises achievement in customer service, and a commitment to upholding standards.

The assessment last month identified the REC’s strengths as its supportive culture and customer-focused attitude, noting the rigour with which it measures customer satisfaction. Feedback from the national standard ServiceMark praises the REC’s mantra ‘Respect Every Customer’ and members’ day, during which all REC staff put their day-to-day work on hold to phone as many members as possible.

The REC demonstrates a high level of customer service according to The Institute, scoring 79.8 in its member survey, which looks at customer satisfaction. The minimum score to achieve ServiceMark is 70. The REC also shows high employee engagement, scoring above the benchmark in a staff engagement survey.

Currently, 114 organisations across the UK are ServiceMark accredited, including The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, Which? Member Services, EDF Energy and Holland & Barrett.

The latest UK Customer Satisfaction Index published by the Institute in July 2016 shows that customer satisfaction has risen to a three-year high of 77.4 and there is a wide variation of satisfaction across different types of customers, sectors and organisations. The climb since January has been less emphatic (just 0.4 points) suggesting that political and economic uncertainty has put more pressure on organisations to deliver a sustainable level of service.  

“Achieving ServiceMark is a real accomplishment for the REC, showing that our members are at the heart of everything we do. This external recognition of excellent customer service proves that we are committed to providing our members with a great experience every time”, said REC Chief Executive Kevin Green.

“Our 3,500 members demand a lot from us as their professional body. Last year we supported 2,000 students to sit exams, took 42,000 customer queries, had 15,300 queries to our legal helpline, and got over 2 million unique visitors to our website.

“Although it’s great to be awarded ServiceMark, we will continue to strive to keep developing as an organisation to benefit our members.”

Commenting on the achievement the Institute of Customer Service Chief Executive, Jo Causon said “We are delighted that the REC is part of a growing band of organisations who understand that providing superior customer service can positively affect the bottom line.”